Brine tank



A ril 12, ws o E. E. ALLYNE 3% BRINE TANK Filed Oct. 19, 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l E. E. ALLYNE April 12, was.

BRINE TANK I 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 19, 1955 awe/MM farm/v0 [/6 21 ma;

Patented A r. 12, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRINE TANK Edmund E. Allyne, Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Allyne Laboratories, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a

corporation of Ohio Application October 19, 1935, Serial No. 45,813

5 Claims.

This invention relates to brine tanks and more particularly to heat exchange tanks for use in connection with household refrigerating apparatus of either the absorption or compression types.

An object of the invention is to construct a brine tank of great strength fabricated from sheet metal stampings.

A further object of the present invention is to construct a sheet metal brine tank which will always be in efiicient thermal contact with the evaporator tubes of therefrigerating apparatus and which may be readily installed or removed as a unit from the evaporator tubes.

A still further object is to construct a brine tank unit made up of a liner and two identical sheet metal sides which are easily fitted to and welded around the liner to form a complete brine tank.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure l is a front elevation of the complete brine tank unit.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the brine tank.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section taken on line 3--3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a horizontal cross-section taken on line 4-4 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmental view, partly in vertical section, of the front and rear portions of the upper part of the brine tank taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Figure 6 is an opened-up assembly view showing the manner in which the parts are fitted together.

Referring more specifically to the drawings:

Numeral l illustrates a rectangular sheet metal casing formed of a single piece of bent metal welded at 2 along its upper central abutting edges. The liner l is provided with oppositely disposed pairs of vertically spaced pressed-in sections 3, leaving longitudinal grooves 4 between each pair of pressed-in sections 3. It will be observed from Figure 4 of the drawings that the outer ends of the pressed-in sections 3 are beveled as indicated by numeral 5 and terminate in a fiat edge 5'. Thus it will be seen that the liner 1 constitutes the inner surface of the brine tank which has a large unobstructed central area.

The outer spaced side walls and top and bottom of the tank are made from two identical U- shaped sheet metal stampings 6 and 1. Each of these stampings consists of a side wall and one-half of the top and bottom of the tank and, as seen in Figures 2 and 4, the top and bottom and side walls are corrugated as indicated by numeral 8. This corrugated construction not only strengthens the unit but also gives a large air cooling area to the tank. The front and rear edges of the sections 6 and I are sloped inwardly at 9 and I and welded to the outer edges of the liner l.

The flared top and bottom edges II and I2 of the sections 6 and 'l are welded together to form a complete brine tank having a large open inner space for the reception of the ice trays.

A threaded nipple l3, forming filling nozzle, for 10 interior space of the brine tank is fastened in a sloping beveled front edge 9 of one of the main side sections, while offset hangers M are welded to the rear sloping sections Ill to assist in supporting the tank unit in the refrigerating box. 16

Notched plates may be brazed or otherwise attached to the corrugated side walls for the purpose of holding the ends of horizontal food trays. To give a pleasing appearance to the unit, a face plate l6 may be amxed to the front of the tank. 20

Conventional ice cube trays 88 may be mounted on plates l9 which rest on the evaporator pipes l1 and thus give an eflicient heat exchange through the contacting metal surface.

It is a comparatively simple metal pressing operation to stamp out the spaced indented portions of the inner liner and to bend the liner into boxlike form. The flared-out meeting edges are welded to complete the inner section of the tank.

The outer spaced top, bottom and side walls of the brine tank are also formed by a mere metal stamping operation, and, as above described, the two halves fitted around the liner are identical and prepared from the same dies so that there are no rights or lefts but may be used interchangeably. In assembly, the two outer stampings are fitted over the liner and welded at their top and bottom meeting lines and also to the outer edges of the liner.

The corrugated top, bottom and sides give strength to the unit and also provide channels for accelerating the circulation of chilled air around the tank and consequently through the food compartment of the refrigerator.

As before stated, the present invention is suit able for use with all types of household refrigeration apparatus and functions equally well with an absorption cycle system as with a motorcompresslon outfit. In either type, the evaporation tubes or coils are frictionally fitted into the grooves formed in the side walls of the liner and snugly held thereby to efiect an efiicient heat exchange to the liquid in the tank and to the ice. cube trays.

While not shown, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the liquefied refrigerant in the system is flowed through the tubes i! to chill the brine or other heat exchange fluid retained in the hollow Walled tank. The tubes iii are connected to the evaporator or liquid gas receiver and may be of any suitable construction provided they are in solid contact with the horizontal grooves i to thus effect proper heat exchange with the side walls 01 the liner.

What I claim is:

1. A brine tank including a holiow inner liner having pairs 01 vertically spaced longitudinal grooves integrally formed in the side walls there of, adapted to frictionally engage and be supported on the evaporator tubes of a refrigerating system, and a. spaced casing surrounding the top, bottom and sides or" said liner ffornnng a fluid tight container.

2. A cooling unit for refrigerating apparatus including a hollow rectangular, fluid-tight, double walled casing open at both ends thereof, a plurality of pairs of horizontal, vertically spaced grooves formed in the inner side walls of the said casing and extending from end to end thereof, the said grooves being adapted to re tain a plurality of pipes in. circuit with the evaporator of the refrigerator system to there by support the said cooling unit.

3. A brine tank for refrigerators consisting of a hollow rectangular inner casing having pressed-out horizontal grooves in its inner side walls for the reception of conduits carrying iiquid refrigerant, the said inner casing comprising a single sheet of bent metal, and a spaced outer casing enclosing said inner casing comprising two identical hollow sheet metal stampinge oi substantial Ushape fitted on either side or said inner casing and welded thereto.

4. A brine tank for refrigerators including an inner liner formed from a single sheet oi metal bent to form a hollow rectangular casing with its meeting edges welded together, integral, horizontal, parallel, spaced apart grooves i'ormed in the opposite vertical side walls of said inner liner, a spaced outer casing surrounding the four sides of said inner liner and welded thereto adjacent the open ends of the said inner liner, the outer casing being fabricated from two identical sheet metal sections welded together at their abutting edges,

5. A brine tank for household refrigerators including an inner liner in the form of an open ended sheet metal rectangle, and having grooves formed in its inner walls for the reception of refrigerating conduits, an outer casing surrounding the said inner liner at the top, bottomand two sides thereof, said outer casing comprising two identical sheet metal sections of substantial u shape both in configuration and in cross sec-' tion. each outer section of said casing forming a side wall and one half of the top and the bottom. for said liner, the abutting edges of the two sections of said casing being'welded to each other and the outer edges thereof being welded to the inner liner adjacent its open ends.

EDMUND E. ALLYNE. 

